Snake (4 page)

“I'm not afraid,” Seh said.

Mong smiled. “Good. We should get moving, then. Why don't we—”

Mong suddenly straightened and snapped his head in the direction of the trail.

Seh felt it, too. The pit of his stomach began to tingle. A little at first, then more and more until it seemed a thousand ants were crawling beneath his belly button. He had experienced this same sensation only one other time—while hiding in the water barrel during the attack on Cangzhen.

“Soldiers are coming,” Seh whispered.

“Not soldiers,” Mong corrected. “Monkeys.”

I
‘ll never understand monkeys,” Seh mumbled to himself as he pushed forward alone, into the darkness.

It had been more than twelve hours since the monkey troop had attacked, and Seh was still finding it hard to believe that Malao had been with the monkeys. Malao's actions to save the monkeys from the bandits’ swords and spears had been crazy, but remarkable. Even more amazing had been Malao's fight with Hung, the enormous bear-style kung fu master who was Mong's right-hand man. Malao may be small, but he was tough. Seh had tracked Malao down less than an hour ago, and Malao had come away from his battle with Hung without a scratch.

Seh rubbed his sweaty, stubbly-haired head as he
thought about the new information Malao had given him. Grandmaster was dead, Fu had somehow managed to obtain the dragon scrolls Ying was after, and Hok was at Cangzhen keeping an eye on Ying and, presumably, Tonglong.

Malao was going to rendezvous with Hok tomorrow, and he had invited Seh to join them. Seh had several reasons he'd like to accept the offer, but he had already concluded that it would be best if he went directly to Shaolin Temple. Seh realized that while it would be good to try and get the bandits to help him and his brothers, the monks of Shaolin Temple would be even better allies. They were stronger and far more respectable than a gang of bandits ever would be.

Then again, maybe he should try and get the bandits
and
the Shaolin monks to help?

Enough!
Seh muttered to himself. It was time to give his brain a rest. He slowed to a fast walk and began to push the items in his mind out one at a time. It was a walking meditation exercise he'd learned at Cangzhen. The more he pushed out, the more he slowed down. By the time the sun began to rise on the second day of his journey, Seh was sound asleep in a fern grove with an empty head.

Seh slept most of the day away and woke with only a few hours of sunlight left. Though he was hungry, he spent the remaining daylight sitting next to a small stream, meditating more. His connection with the world had been strained by recent events. He needed to try and reestablish the harmony he normally felt
with the world around him. Not just harmony with other people, but harmony with all living things.

Seh sat with his eyes closed on a small patch of sand next to the stream, letting the endless ripples of sound wash every thought from his mind. His breathing was smooth … controlled. Slowly he began to feel alive again. Once more, he felt the energy of life all around him, flowing freely from one creature to the next. And he was part of it.
Chi
circulated through his body and through the birds in the trees and through the very trees themselves.

Alone, Seh was one with the universe. But when others were around, he became distracted. The only person Seh could be around and still maintain a perfect connection was Hok. And sometimes when they were alone, Seh would feel even more connected.

As Hok drifted into Seh's mind, he opened his eyes. Not surprisingly, he saw a crane standing on the bank downstream.

Seh watched it closely. It was hunting. Oddly enough, the crane's attention was not focused on the water, but on land. Its eyes were glued to a snake.

From where he sat, Seh could see that the reptile was a young beauty snake, about as long as his arm. Beauty snakes were not poisonous. They had three vibrant, distinctly different color patterns on their bodies that often made them look like three completely different snakes spliced together. This one was no exception. Most of the top half was a brilliant green, and the bottom half was solid black. A yellow
stripe began at the back of its head and ran down its spine all the way to the tip of its tail. Stranger still was its head. The entire thing was bright blue—almost the same color as Seh's silk robe—and there was a thick black stripe across each eye.

Seh had never seen a snake that strange or that beautiful. He was considering taking a closer look when the crane struck.

The white head of the crane shot toward the snake with astonishing speed. To Seh's surprise—and relief— the snake sent a powerful ripple through its muscular torso, slithering out of the path of the crane's deadly beak.

The snake slithered off toward the forest. Again the crane thrust its beak at the snake, and again the snake sent a pulse along its spine.

Seh grinned, but only for a moment, as the crane hopped forward and came down over the snake. One of the crane's razor-sharp claws dug deep into the beauty snake's yellow stripe. At the same time, the snake thrust its head up and back, connecting with one of the crane's thighs.

The crane squawked and Seh jumped to his feet, heading toward the battle. He saw the crane release the snake and hop backward. It puffed out its chest and fanned its wings powerfully as the snake rose up, poised to strike again.

“Get out of here!” Seh shouted at the crane.

The crane looked at Seh and flew off. Seh saw a line of red running across its downy thigh.

The snake lay in a loose pile, bright red blood oozing out between green, yellow, and black scales.

Seh cautiously reached down to it. The snake remained limp as he gently stroked its back.

Quickly, Seh removed his hat and tore out the inner silk lining. He bound the snake's wounds with the silk and placed the snake inside the hat. The snake seemed slightly more alert, which was a good sign. Still, it didn't try to escape, even after Seh washed his hands, picked up the hat, and headed into the forest toward Shaolin.

For several days, Seh's routine was the same. He traveled all night, slept all day, and spent the time between searching for food, meditating, and tending the snake. Some of the nights were filled with heavy rain, while others were perfectly clear. It didn't matter to Seh. He accepted whatever came.

Mong had given him a route that went over numerous small, steep mountains instead of around them. It was exhausting travel, but Seh welcomed the exercise.

As the days passed, Seh noticed two significant changes. First, the snake's condition improved dramatically. It began spending most of its time on Seh's left arm. The snake seemed to enjoy resting its head on the warm pulse of Seh's wrist, the remainder of its body coiled around his arm beneath his long silk sleeve.

Seh tried letting it go several times after he
removed its bandages, but every time he set it down, the snake would immediately crawl up his leg, around his slender waist and chest, over his shoulder, and down his arm. Since the snake tended to do this
beneath
his clothes, Seh soon stopped trying to release it and just let it tag along. He figured when the snake was hungry enough, it would leave.

The second change came within Seh himself. Or rather, without. It was his hair.

Ever since Seh could remember, his hair had grown faster than everyone else's. Most of the Cangzhen monks shaved their heads every four or five days, but Seh had to shave his every day. If he waited any longer, his hair would grow back quickly and unevenly, making his head look lopsided. Everyone used to make fun of him, except for Hok, who would shave her head as often as he did to make him feel better.

Seh's black hair was now longer than it had ever been and so thick that his hat wouldn't fit—even without the lining. Seh was trying to decide where to dispose of his hat one morning when he noticed a peculiar, smoky smell. He glanced up at the low surrounding mountains and realized it was probably Shaolin Temple. Seh followed his nose.

As the sun rose above the trees, Seh stepped to the edge of a strange clearing. More than two hundred stone monuments of various shapes and sizes reached toward the sky. He grinned. He was standing at the edge of Shaolin's famous Pagoda Forest. The Shaolin Temple compound must be nearby.

Seh began to weave through the pagodas, but after a few steps, he froze. Something was wrong. He reached out around him with all his senses and noticed … nothing. The area felt dead. He didn't even sense wildlife. He thought it might be the fact that he was standing in the middle of what was essentially a cemetery, but then he lifted his eyes toward the far end of the pagodas. In the hazy morning light, he saw smoke. Too much smoke.

Seh began to run. The wind in his face brought stronger and stronger scents of smoldering wood and rotting flesh. He reached the main gates of the Shaolin compound and stopped in his tracks.

Bloated bodies were stacked five high in neat rows near the temple's open gates. Orange-robed monks with holes in their chests lay piled alongside armor-clad soldiers with splintered spears and broken swords protruding from their necks and armpits. Half-dry riverbeds of crimson crisscrossed the ground in every direction. Seh fought the urge to retch as the smoky, putrid air circulated through his lungs and swarms of flies buzzed around his head.

Seh didn't know what to do. These were Shaolin warrior monks—the best fighters in all of China. What had brought about this devastation? Who was responsible? It couldn't have been Ying. This attack was at least a couple of days old. Ying would never have been able to travel this far that fast with troops.

Seh looked over at the compound walls. Near the gates, large sections were crumbling away. It looked as
though an angry dragon had smashed them with its mighty tail. He glanced around and saw a line of what appeared to be gigantic
qiangs.
The hollow end of each was huge—almost as big as his head. Seh realized they must have caused the damage. Those weapons would make their owner enormously powerful. Whoever owned them certainly wouldn't leave them here. He would return to collect them. Seh decided he needed to hide.

He took a deep breath, trying not to choke on the stench, and hurried back the way he had come. He quickly located a large oak near the edge of the Pagoda Forest and shimmied up it. High above the ground, the air seemed clearer. Seh breathed deeply, over and over, until he felt life circulating through him once more. He remained there for the better part of the day, occasionally reaching out with his senses for some sign of life other than the snake around his wrist. Once darkness fell, he would head for the bandit stronghold to report the unbelievable news. Until then, he would wait.

It was late afternoon when the pit of Seh's stomach began to tingle. Oddly enough, the snake around his arm shivered at exactly the same moment. They both sensed the presence of an intruder. Or, more precisely, two intruders. If Seh hadn't known better, he would have thought it was a monkey and a tiger. But he knew monkeys and tigers never traveled together. He listened closely and soon heard familiar voices arguing. It was Malao and Fu.

Seh cast his focus in every direction. He hoped to hear Hok's quiet voice or sense her smooth, calm presence, but didn't hear or feel anything remotely calm.

Seh sighed and slipped down the tree. At least Malao and Fu might have some information for him. And, as frustrating as they might be sometimes, it would be good to see them again.

As Seh approached, he heard Fu announce that he was going to the temple. Seh watched as Fu headed off and was about to follow, but something made him stop. He sensed a large amount of feline
chi
coming from Fu's direction. Even the snake sensed it and shivered.

If Fu was emitting that much
chi,
he was bound to be feisty. Seh decided to let him go.

Seh should have paid closer attention to his gut— and to the snake. If he had concentrated harder, he might have realized that the additional
chi
was actually coming from a second feline kung fu master on the prowl. He might even have sensed the dragon that was about to swoop in like an eagle or the praying mantis that was patiently watching everyone and everything.